Toolster system

ABSTRACT

The tool carrier system has a tool belt, an apron and a plurality of tool carrier pockets. The tool belt fits over the waist and thigh of the user to distribute the weight of the tools carried therein. The apron is fitted over the waist of the user in a similar manner as the tool belt. Both the tool belt and the apron are lined with U-loop lining. The system has a plurality of pockets and accessory casings that may be mounted onto either the belt or the apron by Velcro. The system may also include a cover for the tool belt to protect the tools and prevent tools from getting caught or being dropped from the tool belt.

The present application is a Continuation-In-Part of application Ser.No. 10/866,856, filed on Jun. 14, 2004.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to tool belts and related accessories.

2. Description of Related Art

Workers of many trades use tool belts to conveniently carrying toolsduring a task. A tool belt allows the user to take just the necessarytools without carrying around a heavy tool box. Homeowners also findtool belts useful for house repairs and gardening tasks.

Examples of prior art tool belts may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. D507,106of Lyle, D496787 of Cabrera et al. and D510,480 of McCarter. As analternative, a tool pouch may be mounted onto a belt as shown in U.S.Pat. No. D482,524. However, previous tool belts and tool pouches arebulky and may cause back strain because they allow the weight of thetools to pull towards one side of the body. There is also the risk ofdropping a tool that gets caught while entering a tight space or goingup a ladder.

The system of the present invention overcomes the aforementionedproblems by distributing the weight so as to avoid back strain. Thesystem further provides the option of covering the tools to protect themand prevent dropping a tool.

Other benefits of the present invention are its low weight andversatility.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprises a belt panel shaped to include a waistfitting portion, a thigh fitting portion and a tool carrier supportportion. A plurality of tool carrier pockets of different sizes may bemounted onto the carrier support portion. The combination of the waistfitting portion and the thigh fitting portion serves to securely fit thedevice while distributing the weight of the tools mounted thereon toprevent back strain.

The invention further comprises accessory carriers which may be used tohold personal items such as a pair of glasses or a cellular phone and astealth cover to protect the tools.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is described in detail below with reference to thedrawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tool belt of the present inventionworn by a user (FIG. 2 of 10/866,856).

FIG. 2 is a front view of the tool belt of the present invention (FIG. 1of 10/866,856).

FIG. 3 is a front view of the belt panel of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an alternate embodiment of the system provided with twosymmetrically positioned thigh fitting portions (FIG. 8 of 10/866,856.).

FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of the alternate embodiment of thepresent invention worn by a person (FIG. 9 of 10/866,856).

FIG. 6 shows the use of the carrier pockets onto the belt panel (new).

FIG. 7 shows the exemplary use of the carrier pocket mounted on a worktable (new).

FIG. 8 shows the use of the stealth cover of the present invention(new).

FIG. 9 shows the back side of the stealth cover (new).

FIG. 10 shows an alternate embodiment in the system in the form of anapron or mini tool belt.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The system of the present invention includes a tool belt, an apron ormini tool belt and a plurality of pockets and accessory cases which maybe selectively mounted in either of the tool belt or the apron, asneeded.

The tool belt of the system starts with a belt panel 1, shown in FIG. 3.The material selected for the belt panel is a lightweight, breathableand washable fabric such as Nylon. The belt panel is lined on theexterior with medical grade Neoprene and SBR U-loop. The upper portionof the belt panel 1 forms a waist fitting portion 2 provided on one endwith Velcro for fitting the belt onto the user's waist. The lowerportion of the belt panel 1 forms a thigh fitting portion 3 having oneend provided with Velcro 4 to securely fit the belt panel onto theuser's thigh. FIG. 1 shows the tool belt worn by a user. An alternateembodiment has thigh fitting portions 3 a and 3 b for both legs of theuser, as shown in FIG. 5.

In order to properly fit the belt panel, the user must first lay out thebelt panel. Holding the waist panel by both ends of the waist fittingportion, the user positions the end with U-loop onto the side of thebody and locks onto it the end with Velcro such that the belt panel isfit snugly onto the user's waist. The user then holds both ends of thethigh fitting portion, positioning the end lined with u-loop on theinterior of the thigh and locking onto it the end with Velcro tosecurely fit the thigh fitting portion. Combining the waist fittingportion with at least one thigh fitting portion results in a fit whichnot only distributes the weight of the system to avoid back strain butkeeps tools closer to the body. The system may be offered in differentsizes or, due to the flexibility of the belt panel and strength of theVelcro locking mechanism, it may be offered as a one-size fits all.

The apron or mini-toolbelt 5, shown in FIG. 10, is similar inconstruction and material to the tool belt. It is of shorter length,preferable from waist to hip, and the upper portion forms a waistfitting portion with Velcro 6 to properly secure the apron in position.The apron panel is also lined on the exterior with medical gradeNeoprene and SBR U-loop.

The system includes a plurality of tool carrier pockets 7 of differentshapes and sizes, as shown in FIG. 1. Each pocket may be provided withloops 8 or recesses 9 for holding at least one tool such as a hammer orscrewdriver. A pocket 7 may include a recess with a closure, such as azipper 10, to carry nails or other small items safely.

The pockets 7 are made of a material similar to the belt panel and apronpanel, and the back side 11 is conveniently provided with Velcro 12 forselectively mounting the pocket(s) onto either of the belt panel 1 orthe apron panel 5, as desired. This way, the user may store itemsrelating to different tasks onto separate pockets and later mount onlythe needed tool sets to carry on the tool belt or apron.

As shown in FIG. 7, the Velcro 12 provided on the pockets also allowsthe versatility of mounting the pockets onto another surface for storageor display. The pockets, referred to as Dock-it Pockets, help sort toolsand may be used to organize a work or storage area. Dock-it pockets maybe mounted on a work bench, a school locker, craft area, waitressstation, nurse station, garage wall, etc.

Alternately, a main pocket may be permanently secured to the belt paneland/or apron panel and additional pockets may be removably mounted onthe belt panel by the user, as desired.

Accessory casings 13 of different shapes and sizes provided with Velcro14 on their back side for mounting on the belt panel 1. The accessorycasings may serve for holding personal items such as a pair of safetyglasses or sunglasses, a cellular phone, writing/marking implements,etc. Similar to the pockets, the accessory casings may be mounted ontoother surfaces for storage or display.

The tool belt may also include a stealth cover in the form of a fabricpanel 15 outlined with Velcro 16 to allow mounting said cover over thecarrier support portion to protect the tools. This helps preventdropping a tool while entering a tight space, going into the crawlingspace of a residence, under a car, or going up a ladder. The cover 15may be selectively mounted over the carrier support portion or the topedge of the cover may be permanently secured to the belt panel 1 so thatthe cover 15 may be rolled up or down to a selected length.

The material for the accessory carriers and the fabric for belt panel 1,the cover 15, the apron panel 5 and the pockets 7 may be selected in aplurality of colors and patterns to provide the user with a variety ofchoices. By providing different color options, the user would be able tosort tools for different tasks by color. For example, gardening toolsmay be held in a green pocket while painting tools are held in a bluepocket. Also, multiple users sharing the system may establish a colorcoding system to distinguish each person's items.

The system of the present invention may be customized to many tasks andtrades. The system may be used by homeowners, mechanics, HVACtechnicians, carpenters, plumbers, waiters/waitresses, nurses, gardenersand other similar trades.

While the present invention has been shown and described herein in whatare conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it isrecognized that departures, modifications, adaptations, variations andalterations in the described methods and systems may be made and will beapparent to those skilled in the art of the foregoing description whichdoes not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention which istherefore not to be limited to the details herein.

For this reason, such changes are desired to be included within thescope of the appended claims. The descriptive manner which is employedfor setting forth the embodiments should be interpreted as illustrativebut not limitative of the full scope of the claims which embrace any andall equivalents thereto.

1. A tool-carrier system comprising: a belt panel; an apron panel; andtool carrier pockets interchangeably mounted onto either of the beltpanel or the apron panel to hold at least one tool therein.
 2. Thetool-carrier system of claim 1, further comprising at least oneaccessory casing interchangeably mounted onto either of the belt panelor the apron panel to hold a personal item.
 3. The tool-carrier systemof claim 1, further comprising a cover for the belt panel.
 4. Thetool-carrier system of claim 1, wherein said belt panel is lined on theexterior with a Velcro-compatible U-loop lining, said belt panelincludes a waist fitting portion and at least one thigh fitting portion,and a tool carrier support portion, wherein said waist fitting portionhas locking means to securely fit said portion at the waist and said atleast one thigh fitting portion has a locking means to securely fit saidportion at the thigh
 5. A tool belt system comprising: a belt panellined on the exterior with a Velcro-compatible U-loop lining, said beltpanel including a waist fitting portion and at least one thigh fittingportion, and a tool carrier support portion, wherein said waist fittingportion has locking means to securely fit said portion at the waist andsaid at least one thigh fitting portion has a locking means to securelyfit said portion at the thigh; and at least one tool carrier having afront side with recesses for receiving at least one tool and a back sidelined with Velcro to securely mount said carrier onto the tool carriersupport portion.
 6. The tool belt system of claim 5, wherein said beltpanel is comprised of Nylon.
 7. The tool belt system of claim 5, saidpanel comprising two symmetrically positioned thigh fitting portions. 8.The tool belt system of claim 6, further comprising at least oneaccessory carrier for holding a personal item, said carrier having aback side lined with Velcro to securely mount said accessory carrieronto the tool carrier support portion.
 9. The tool belt system of claim5, wherein the locking means of the waist fitting portion and of thethigh fitting portion comprises Velcro.
 10. The tool belt system ofclaim 5, further comprising a cover outlined with Velcro for securingsaid cover to said carrier support portion thereby protecting the tools.11. An apron system comprising: an apron panel lined on the exteriorwith a Velcro-compatible U-loop lining, said apron panel including awaist fitting portion and a tool carrier support portion, wherein saidwaist fitting portion has locking means to securely fit said portion atthe waist; and at least one tool carrier having a front side withrecesses for receiving at least one tool and a back side lined withVelcro to securely mount said carrier onto the tool carrier supportportion.
 12. The apron system of claim 11, wherein said apron panel iscomprised of Nylon.
 13. The apron system of claim 11, further comprisingat least one accessory carrier for holding a personal item, said carrierhaving a back side lined with Velcro to securely mount said accessorycarrier onto the apron panel.
 14. The apron system of claim 11, whereinthe locking means of the waist fitting portion comprises Velcro.
 15. Atool carrier comprising: a pocket having a front side with at least oneof the group comprising of a recess, a loop, a casing and a zipperedcompartment and a back side provided with Velcro, thereby beingconfigured to be mounted onto a U-loop lined surface.